Trusting His Timing

Apr 14, 2019 | by Nancy Newbrough

The week after my husband Nicholas, who is in the Air Force, and I got married last summer, we started filling out all the paperwork and medical clearances the military needed so I would be able to accompany him to his next post in Italy. We were supposed to leave in November.

After submitting all the forms, we waited … and waited! Even though we frequently called the passport agency on base and even tried to go in person to check on it, they were always too busy to help us. For three months, the application sat in that office without us ever being notified that it had been sent!

I was sad and hurt when late October came. It was obvious we were going to be separated until I got the military passport.

The first application had expired, so we got a new application, sent it off on December 4th, and began waiting again. Nicholas left the week before Christmas to report to his new assignment.

Then another six weeks went by and we still had not heard anything! In late January, I got a call from someone at the base, saying that I sent the wrong birth certificate and that he had mailed a letter, with the details of the problem, to me three times. As it turns out, he was sending it to an address that was completely wrong! It was like an unending nightmare!

I was so devastated, thinking we were just a couple of days away from getting the passport only to find out it was not even close to being done. All I could do was pray for the strength to be positive and strong as being apart was so hard -- but on those bad news days, it was especially challenging!

When I sent the agent the right birth certificate in a return envelope that he had included, I thought for sure that things were finally on the move! When I called him the next week to make certain he got it, he said I was supposed to send it straight to Washington, D.C. -- even though he had told me to send it back in the envelope addressed to him. But he would take care of sending it on to D.C.

Two weeks later, I contacted him to see if he had finally received the passport. His reply was that he had just gotten the birth certificate -– it seems the prepaid envelope he gave me had already been used, so it could not be delivered. I have never felt so frustrated or helpless in my life!

I began to lose hope! Every time we thought everything had been done and that my passport was actually being processed, we faced another delay and had no confidence that it was ever going to be issued! I was so conflicted, knowing I needed to trust God and not question why we kept getting our hopes so high only to be let down. Constantly I was reminding myself that God is all powerful and everything would work out. It was just a matter of being patient and trusting His timing.

Three weeks ago, I finally received the passport - at last! With it in hand, the next week I was able to get the visa needed for Italy. That very Friday the military booked my flight! (Finally, something was done efficiently!) I boarded the airplane on Sunday and arrived safely in Italy Monday afternoon.

I cannot tell you the joy of stepping off that flight and into my husband’s arms! Even though it had been such a hard thing to go through, nothing compared to the moment we were back together again! We could not have made it without the comfort and strength the Lord gave us as we kept turning to Him in prayer.

Karley

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, 
so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
1 Peter 4:12-13